So you're saying that the channels were leaking? How does this work? Leaking from some other person who had cable? I'm not sure I understand how they would show up as over the air if they were coming from a hardline like coaxial. Could you explain?

In my hometown, years ago, it was possible to watch many channels from the cable that surrounding apartments had. It was almost comical to see how many were watching these freebies. Of course the picture wasn't always 100% clear (especially when someone used a portable kitchen hand mixer ) but they were free nonetheless.

We're building a new home in Dieppe (Greater Moncton area) and I am very tempted to install an antenna for local reception. I checked out the details for our local stations (http://www.user.dccnet.com/jonleblan...ations/NB.html) and then threw the tower coordinates into google maps to see where they actually are situated relative to the house. The 3 towers are roughly 18 Km, 26 Km and 31 Km away. The two at 26 and 31 Km are in the same general direction, the other is about 90 degrees from the other two. I'm wondering if I could get away with simply setting up the antenna in the garage attic given the distances. It is a pretty standard build house: wood, tar shingles, blown insulation in the attic, but otherwise nothing up there. Are those distances too much?

So I take it that no one in the area has tried this? I read that attic installs is discouraged in the FAQ, but given the reception I currently get with our little indoor antenna, I'm still tempted to have a go.

As a side note, our little indoor antenna gets us English CBC (7), French CBC (11) and Global Maritimes (27 apparently). We don't get CTV (2). I'm not sure what to make of that. The antenna looks rather like a miniature generic VHF antenna (as per FAQ) with metallic strips in that configuration embedded within a pie shaped piece of glass. Now that I better understand the difference between VHF and UHF, is it odd that I can get channel 27 with this, but not 2?! Just curious.

Given the closeness of your stations I bet an attic install would be fine, but the beauty is that you could put it up outside if it doesn't work well enough. Indoor antennas are a real crap shoot for reception, so no comment on yours.

I know most of you in Atlantic Canada don't really have a great situation with OTA DT options, but those close to Maine can get some access of PBS, CBS & FOX over the air without having to go cable or Sat. services.

Digital OTA stations require much much less ERP (Effective Radiated Power) levels than analogue to cover the same area. Not only do we get better picture and audio quality, but digital OTA is better for the environment too.

As the digital transition goes forward there will be some stations requesting further power level changes as they gain more real world experience with their coverage areas. Another thing to consider is that many U.S. stations do not pay much attention to the needs of Canadian viewers, so it can be tough to complain to them about low power levels. In the case of PBS stations, if it can be shown that a substantial amount of funding comes from Canadian viewers in your area it makes sense that they should keep their ERP levels high enough for those donors.

They both seem the same. But, I think 3.5KW is rather low.
You can always contact Maine PBS, and let them know if their signal is rather low on DT. And yes, PBS stations do care about reaching their Canadian viewers. They'll listen. Especially if that station is suppose to reach Saint John, NB

thanks for those links blackburst.It does look like the coverage maps are the same.At this time I cant tell if WMED is broadcasting a digital signal,Im certainly not getting even a sniff on my panasonic tc32 lx85.Ill try and watch what happens during the next analog shutdown 12,17,08.Im confused about the channel designations.It appears they will be on ch10,192-198 mhz.But digital ch13-1?why the difference in numbers?

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